The inspection jig is used to detect electrical characteristics of an inspection object part of an object to be inspected, and to perform a performance test or similar actions, by supplying electric power (or an electrical signal, etc.) at a predetermined inspection position from the inspection apparatus to the inspection object part via a contactor(s) and by detecting the electrical signal from the inspection object part.
As the object to be inspected, there are listed various circuit boards such as, for example, a printed circuit board, a flexible board, a ceramic multilayer wiring board, an electrode plate for a liquid crystal display and a plasma display, a package substrate for semiconductor package and a film carrier, and a semiconductor apparatus such as a semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor chip and a chip size package (CSP).
In this description, the aforementioned objects to be inspected are generally referred to as an “object to be inspected”, and the inspection object part set on the object to be inspected is referred to as an “inspection point”.
For example, if the object to be inspected is a circuit board, and if electrical and electronic components, such as a semiconductor circuit like an IC and a resistor, are mounted on the circuit board, then, the inspection object part is a wire or an electrode. In that case, in order to ensure that the object part can accurately transmit the electrical signal to the mounted components, the electrical characteristics such as a resistance value between predetermined inspection points on wires formed on a printed circuit board before the mounting of electrical and electronic components, a liquid crystal panel and a plasma display panel are measured to determine the quality of the wires.
Specifically, the determination of the quality of the wires is performed by making tips of current supply terminals and/or contactors for voltage measurement abut on respective inspection points, supplying measurement current to the inspection points from the current supply terminals of the contactors, measuring voltage generated between the tips of the contactors which abut on the inspection points, and calculating the resistance value of the wires between the predetermined inspection points from the supplied current and the measured voltage.
Moreover, when the inspection circuit board is inspected by using a circuit board inspection apparatus, the following control is performed; a tool moving device is moved to make inspection contactors (or contact pins) of a circuit board inspection jig abut on a contact part of the inspection circuit board, thereby performing a predetermined inspection, and if the inspection ends, the inspection jig is moved by the tool moving device to move away from the inspection circuit board.
Here, for example, an inspection jig disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2009-047512 is provided with a tip or head side support body, a back-end side support body disposed with a predetermined gap from the head side support body, and a connector or coupler configured to couple or connect the head side support body and the back-end side support body. The inspection jig allows vertical sliding of the head side support body and the back-end side support body.
In the head side support body, there is formed a head side through hole in a direction perpendicular to a facing surface or opposite surface opposed to the inspection object. In the back-end side support body, there is formed a back-end side through hole in a direction inclined with respect to a direction of the formation of the head side through hole. The back-end side through hole is inclined with respect to the head side through hole such that a head side of a probe(s) inserted through the back-end side through hole is directed to the head side through hole. The tip of the probe(s) is guided by the head side through hole and is brought into contact with inspection point. A back end of the probe(s) is guided by the back-end side through hole and is brought into contact with an electrode of an electrode support body.
Moreover, the electrode support body having the electrode with which the back end of the probe is in contact is provided with a biasing mechanism which is disposed with a predetermined gap from the back-end side support body for holding the probe(s) and which is configured to bias the back-end side support body. The biasing mechanism has a conically formed tip. The biasing mechanism of the back-end side support body can also perform positioning in a horizontal direction of the head side support body and the back-end side support body which are integrally formed, by being inserted into an insertion hole provided in a part on which the biasing mechanism of the back-end side support body abuts.
In the inspection jig disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2009-047512, when the circuit board as the inspection object is not pressed to the head-side support body, the head-side support body and the back-end side support body are integrally lifted up by the biasing force of the biasing mechanism, and the tip of the probe(s) is accommodated in the head-side through hole of the head-side support body. On the other hand, when the circuit board is pressed to the head-side support body to perform the inspection, the head-side support body and the back-end side support body are pressed down by pressing force of the circuit board against the biasing force of the biasing mechanism, and the tip of the probe(s) projects from the head-side through hole of the head-side support body to be brought into contact with the inspection point. This prevents that the rubbing of the tip of the probe(s) in contact with the surface of the inspection point causes a large dent on the surface of the inspection point.
In the inspection jig described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2009-047512, however, the insertion of the tip of the biasing mechanism into the insertion hole of the back-end side support body allows the positioning in the horizontal direction of the head-side support body and the back-end side support body which are integrally formed. Thus, if a horizontal position of the tip is shifted, a horizontal position of the head-side support body is shifted, and as a result, a contact position of the probe(s) guided by the head-side support body on the circuit board is shifted. The biasing mechanism is a movable mechanism which can slide while applying the biasing force to the head-side support body and the back-end side support body, and it is thus hard to accurately maintain the horizontal position of the tip of the biasing mechanism. Therefore, the inspection jig described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2009-047512 has a disadvantage which is reduced positioning accuracy of the contact position of the probe tip on the circuit board.